Carolyn Marie Hauck, librarian

Retired Enoch Pratt arts and film librarian was a soprano and volunteer at two Mount Vernon churches

Carolyn Marie Hauck, a retired Enoch Pratt Free Library staff member who encouraged patrons to explore films and the arts, died of dementia complications at the Pickersgill Retirement Community. The longtime Mount Vernon resident was 89.

Born in Anderson, Ohio, she was the daughter of Carroll E. and Marie Hauck. She earned a bachelor's degree in art from Miami University in Miami, Ohio, and had a master's degree in library science from Western Reserve University.

She moved to Baltimore in 1954 and joined the central Pratt Library. For more than three decades, she worked in its fine arts, music and audio-visual sections. For many years, she worked in the picture collection department, where she collected photographs and graphics culled from publications.

"She was a friendly person who welcomed patrons into the department," said Shirley Viviano, a retired Pratt co-worker who lives in Baltimore. "She herself was an artist and did some paintings she displayed in her apartment. She also entertained a good deal and was an excellent cook."

Mrs. Viviano recalled that Miss Hauck walked to work from her homes on Charles Street and later from the St. Paul at Chase apartment house.

"We'd eat at the Woman's Exchange and at Marconi's after work. She liked the fish and the sweetbreads there," she said.

After working at the Pratt's fine arts department, she moved to the audio-visual area and immersed herself in its film collection. Friends said she worked closely with Violet Myer, who headed the film section.

"She knew the collection backward and forward because she did the write-ups on the films when they came in," said Marc Sober, a Pratt colleague. "She helped a lot of local film professors and their students who would come in. I recalled how she worked closely with Stan VanDerBeek at UMBC when he was setting up a visual arts program."

Douglas Armstrong, a Pratt patron, recalled how she encouraged him and family members to check out 16 mm movies of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, or French films such as "The Red Balloon."

"She always tried to expose us to the best visual films, things we didn't know about and might not have found on our own," said Mr. Armstrong, a Baltimore resident.

Mr. Sober said his colleague's "primary interests" were art and music and that she was a regular at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Center Stage. She also went on archaeological tours of the Middle East and the British Isles.

"She loved living in the city and made use of all its cultural facilities downtown," he said.

Miss Hauck joined the old Christ's Episcopal Church on East Chase Street and was a soprano in its choir. After it closed, she joined Emmanuel Church and kept choir robes clean and often sewed on a button.

"We referred to her as 'The General' in the most affectionate way," said the Rev. Thomas Culbertson, Emmanuel's rector emeritus. "She was able to marshal things and put them together. Her style was to drop in three days a week and check the altar supplies or the library or whatever needed doing. She helped write the altar guild manual."

Verle Larson, a church musician at both Christ's Church and Emmanuel, called her an "endearing person who was a well-known figure in Mount Vernon." He recalled that she walked wherever she needed to go in Baltimore.

A life celebration will be observed at a 10:30 a.m. service Sunday at Emmanuel Church, 811 Cathedral St.